Ask the Expert: How AI will make YOU more valuable.

As 'Artificial Intelligence' has become a universal term of concern for many of us, is there an alternative reality which is of great benefit to each of us? As with most major technology and industrial innovations, changes in the workplace have generated similar concerns historically. That historical perspective offers great insights to contract managers and legal counsel faced with AI applications in their industry. When we view AI as 'augmented intelligence' we can significantly enhance our value to our organizations. AI won't necessarily replace your function. Rather, depending on how you position yourself it will simply increase your value as a facilitator of AI. AI can't operate in a vacuum so your profession is the key to enabling AI to work and we'd like to show you how starting with this session.

Hi Mark
Let me start with the value proposition. We are currently running a survey about this in the context of an organisation's ability to manage contracts in light of coronavirus. It is demonstrating the importance - and results will be available next week.

In terms of implementations in Melbourne, we will need to ask! I'll arrange for a question to be sent out.

And finally, have you tried the selection tool available on this site?It should provide you with a good shortlist to consider.

• IACCM
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2020-04-02 22:16:25

Hi Mark, it will good to see the feedback from members and you can also enter your requirements into our independent register of contract management tools at www.iaccm.com/resources/contract-management-software/ This works like an RFI to match market capability to your requirements and will help to segment the tools into where they fit on the contract management lifecycle e.g. authoring Vs managing contracts.

It was good to see you at our last 'physical' member meeting on 5 March before COVID-19 turned us all 'virtual'. Please also call me on 0407 535835 if you want a chat about tools.

Thanks, Phyllis, I am glad that you found the webinar helpful; it was certainly a great session to moderate, with some really good questions at the end. I agree - we often don't pay enough attention to the learning style and the impact that has on how information is absorbed. Paul Branch

Dear Carrie, I have experience from pricing changes both during the negotiation process and during the contract lifecycle. Our clients have especially found this as an effective tool during negotiations to demonstrate risk/work-impact if the other party is requesting terms transferring an extensive part of the risk/work to them. By showing the cost-impact, the incentive for price increase becomes rather obvious which strengthens your negotiation position. Kind regards, Madeleine Willyams - Advokatfirmaet Negota AS, Norway.

• Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc
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2020-03-30 21:35:12

1) This is novel to me. Reading your post, your organisation is on the supply side. If I am right, I work for an organisation on the buying side and will want to know how this can be of benefit for one on the buying side.

2) Is it possible to see a sample of just one of such clauses, to see how it was drafted?

Personally, I would say the 10 are still applicable today (Jan 2020). I also think the point about how fast the world is moving - particularly technology wise - is true and it has only sped up even more in the past 5 years.

Me too. I would be interested to hear what others have found in selection of a CLM.

• EY
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2019-08-22 09:53:40

Hello,

I am not a buyer of CLM solution but a seller. I work for EY and have developed a easy plug-in and use SharePoint based CLM solution. Would be happy to participate in the RFP/RFI process. My email ID is: Kulbir.kaur@in.ey.com.

As for my tool the below features are available at extremely reasonable pricing and very easy to use format.

Hi Geoff. We found a lot of the systems on the market, whilst all really good, focussed on workflow. Emails and notifications of moments and issues galore. I've always found that you don't need that if you have the right team, this isn't needed. They know what thy have to do, what stage in the process and when. So that for me was a major issue.

The second thing is a lot of them have lots of functionality around the back and forth and negotiation of clauses. I'd suggest again if you have really good templates and good early engagement, you reduce the back and forth required and can get the benefits of quicker turnaround and e-signatures without a bigger system.

I would flag that you should not underestimate the work required to get your current information into the new system. It's probably going to be more than the annual fees to set up. In the RFP / RFI - get them to tell you their plans and costs for getting the records in the system. It's not just the scanning of records, but also the information in the contracts (milestones, conditions) that need to come in.

Finally, I'd really recommend that you bring in as many people as possible into this process, especially in the procurement team. The users and the team are the ones that will have to use this solution going forward and keep your records in that format for all of those wonderful visuals and reports that the new system spits out. I've seen and heard of many instances where the new CLM has failed because the team and users haven't brought into the solution.

We've been lucky with our solution (it's a simple one that we developed in house) because :
(a) it wasn't an all at once deployment. People have had time to think about the system and what it could do
(b) the team have then been able to take the system to an even higher level than anything I had in mind. Templates for contracts, evaluation and issues registers - all really awesome stuff that went way beyond my initial ideas.

I hope this aids your thinking, and if you want to talk further, please message me.

• BDO USA LLP
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2019-08-29 15:47:27

I saw your post this morning and wanted to reach out about your question. I lead the consulting practice at BDO USA LLP that focuses on precisely the scenario you are asking about. We are solution/platform agnostic and seek to ensure the "right" solution - regardless of vendor - is selected so that something that is too big or too complex isn't inadvertently chosen from the many, many good solutions out there. Feel free to give me a call at 703-770-4453 or email at tfuchs@bdo.com. I'd be happy to share my thoughts with you. Thanks! Tom

• Nimblex by EBMS
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2019-11-15 01:49:24

Our experience is to stay away from the big overnight system implementation but to partner with a super flexible technology so that you can start small and then incrementally digitise the processes the way you want and your staff would like to work. This is a more incremental way and allow for the necessary change management to run parallel.
Flexibility is the key i.e. shape the software around your processes, framework, desired way of working and policies. Do not try to shape your work procedures to fit a certain software. A good example is getnimblex.com/case-studies/yvw-procurement-and-contract-management/

• SirionLabs
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2019-12-06 06:57:34

Hi Geoff,

I understand your requirement. I am a CCMAP, IACCM certified Contract Management professional and I work for the most innovative CLM tool pioneer organization.

Challenges faced by most organisation during the RFI/RFP phase can be understood as per below:
The client wanting the lowest price, the highest quality, access to innovation and new ideas and products, extensive audit rights, and the flexibility to renegotiate to get a better deal. In this kind of environment, it can be challenging to form a close, business partner relationship.

Challenges faced by most organisation during the Implementation/post deployment phase can be understood as per below:
Change of specifications, change of scope, change of marketplace dynamics, change of personnel, minimal joint planning and joint problem solving

The above problems are faced when you do not have an effective CLM management process and an alliance manager.

The major problem is that organisations tend to follow a positioned approach instead of principled approach and do not come up the relationship continuum pyramid.

You may want to contact us to provide you with a best CLM solution that will help you build good Supplier relationship management process and likewise.

Great question. You have certainly come to the right place for some expert advice. I hope others jump in as well. You can find an array of resources at your fingertips (including case studies).. if you go into the resource library (Resources > Resource Library) and search by category = Negotiation. I would particularly recommend:

IACCM Dubai Member Meeting April 2019 Presentations
Ask The Expert: Negotiating and Contracting in the Middle East
The Power of Intent Workshop - IACCM APAC Conference 2019
Do Procurement practices cause dishonesty?
Negotiating in a time of coronavirus
In Negotiations, Givers Are Smarter Than Takers

In addition, you may wish to consider our new Managing Contracts Virtually training program (which is currently included as a member benefit) .. Training > Managing Contracts Virtually.

If you need help accessing any of these materials, please contact me at info@iaccm.com.

You are right that Cloud contracting is still in an emergent state. For anyone who is either offering or considering buying such services, you will find IACCM's research report on 'as-a-Service' contracting is helpful; it includes a set of principles to support negotiation or assessment of the more contentious / complicated terms. See www.iaccm.com/resources/

Hi - great question - and perhaps if I reply with a perspective from New Zealand.

I think that the leading company see opportunities where demand is no longer the lowest price or most recent tender - but on availability and quality within a short space of time - and often local ! There are good examples of firms here changing up their business models - making masks and other protective gear - when their tools and workers would otherwise be idle as a business that is not deemed essential, and can't therefore operate.

Some others seem happy to wait it out, but it's fair to say that early signs are that the landscape for both work and production within the economy will change post COVID. Even from a work point of view, many are going to question why they need to come into an office each day to do their work.

The elements you mention are components of a Commercial Management process. To gain a comprehensive overview, you may find the IACCM 2019 Benchmark Report helpful - it sets out the various activities associated with the contracting and commercial lifecycle.

If you would like to discuss how you might best approach building the Commercial function, I'd be delighted to arrange a call. You can contact me at tcummins@iaccm.com